Cutlery article



Patented Dec. 23, 1941 CUTLERY ARTICLE John A. Dickerman, Southbridge,Mass, assignor to Russell Harrington Cutlery Company, Southbridge,Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 17, 1938,Serial No. 235,407

1 Claim. (01. 306-38) This invention relates to cutlery articles and hasparticular reference to new and. improved means for detachably securingthe parts of said articles together.

One of theprincipal objects of the invention is to provide new andimproved means for securing the parts of cutlery articles togetherwhereby said parts may be easily and quickly connected or separated.This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending applicationSerial No. 102,562, filed September 25, 1936. Another object of theinvention is to provide new and improved means for securing the parts ofcutlery articles together whereby any of the parts may be quickly andeasily replaced.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, and it will be apparent that many changes may be made in thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts shown and described asthe preferred form only has been shown by way of illustration.

Referring to the drawing: Fig. I is a perspective View of a knifeembodying the invention; 7

Fig. 11 is a sectional view taken on line II-II of Fig. I;

Fig. III is a fragmentary view of Fig. 11 on an enlarged scale; and v IFig. IV is a sectional View taken on line IV-IV looking in the directionof the arrows.

It is apparent that in the use of cutlerythere are various occasionswhen it is preferable to change certain parts such as when the blade ofa knife becomes worn, broken or otherwise damaged. This substitution ofa new blade is preferable as it obviates discarding the entire piece ofcutlery. It is, therefore, one of the prime objects of this invention toprovide new and improved means for detachably securing together thevarious parts of cutlery whereby any of the parts may be easily andquickly detached and a new part substituted therefor.

Referring again to the drawing wherein similar reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the knifeembodying the invention comprises broadly a handle I having a blademember 2 attached thereto by securing means 3. The handle l is providedwith a longitudinal bore. 4 of a given diameter extending substantiallythroughout the length thereof to a point 5 adjacent the blade end of thehandle, at which point the diameter of the bore is reduced, as indicatedat 6, throughout the remainder of the length of the handle.

a A ferrule l is secured to the reduced end 8 of the handle and isprovided with a slit 9 and inwardly deflected lip portions III and IIadjacent the opposed ends of the slit.

The blade 2 is provided with a cutting edge I2 and has a relatively longand narrow shank portion adapted to extend inwardly and be embedded inthe bore of the handle. The shank comprises two distinct sections I3 andI4 of different diameters joined with each other along opposed taperededges I5.

The section I3 is of a width slightly wider than the diameter of thebore 4 and the width of the section I4 is slightly smaller than thediameter of the bore 6. The section I4 is provided with opposed threadededges IE and H.

The blade 2 is secured to the handle I by means of a rod-like connectionmember I8 having a hollow threaded bore I9 adjacent one end thereofadapted to threadedly engage with the threaded shank section It andhaving an enlarged nut-like member 29 secured to said rodlike connectionmeans I8 by means of a pin 2| or other suitable means as illustrated inFig. II. The nut-like member 20 is adapted to have engagement with themain handle portion I so as to draw the shank portion of the blademember 2 inwardly of the hollow bore of the handle when the member I8 isthreaded into the threaded portion I4 of the shank.

Referring more particularly to Figs. III and IV, it will be noted thatthe opposed longitudinal edges 22 and 23 of the section I3 of the shankare embedded within the material of the handle with a tongue andgroove-like connection. This may be brought about in two differentmanners as follows:

The first arrangement is to form diametrically opposed groovesinternally of the bore 6 through the initial connecting of the blademember 2 with the handle, the said grooves being formed by forciblydrawing the wider section I3 into the bore 6 which is of considerablysmaller diameter than the width of said portion I3 with the said taperedportions aiding in displacing the material on the handle as the sectionI3 is drawn inwardly thereof. The amount of inward movement is such asto draw the shouldered edges 24 and 25 of the blade into contact withthe inturned lips III and II.

Another arrangement is to perform diametrically opposed longitudinalgrooves 26 and 21 in said bore 6. It is particularly pointed out,however, that even in this instance the distance beof the bore 6.

tween the bottoms of the grooves 26 and 21 is slightly less than thewidth of the portion l3 so that when said portion I3 is drawn inwardlyof the bore and into said grooves 26 and 21 the longitudinal edges 22and 23 of said portion l3 will bit or cut into the material of thehandle and form a frictional tight connection therewith internally ofthe ferrule 1.

It is to be understood that the members I 8 and 20 may be formedintegral with each other if desired and that the said member l8 may bein the form of a slender bar having a threaded bore adjacent one endthereof or may be formed hollow throughout its length with a portion ofits bore threaded as indicated at I9.

The portion 20 may be notched or knurled, as indicated at 28, to form abetter grip if desired.

The function of the tongue and groove-like connection between thesection I3 and the grooves 26 and 21 is to prevent rotation of the bladerelative to the handle during use.

To assemble the blade with the handle in instances where the grooves 26and 21 are not preformed, the shank or tang of the blade 2 is insertedthrough the slot 9 in the ferrule 1 and into the aligned longitudinalbores 6 and 4 of the handle I until the tapered portions I5 en- ".gagethe material of the handle adjacent the :fblade end thereof.

The member [8 is then threaded onto the threaded portion of the sectionl4 forcing the nut-like member 20 into engagement with the adjacent endof the handle l thereby drawing the portion I3 inwardly The taperededges l5 function as means for displacing the material of the handle toaid in drawing the portion l3 inwardly thereof. The blade is drawninwardly of the handle to a point whereby the shouldered edges 24 and 25will engage with the inwardly deflected lips Ill and H of the ferrule.The said lips engage the inner adjacent end of the handle and providedurable backing means for preventing the shouldered portions cuttinginto and ruining the adjacent end of the handle.

To remove the blade the nut-like member 20 is backed off for a slightdistance and the said nut is then tapped in a direction towards thehandle I with the said handle being gripped firmly during said tappingso as to force the The nut may then be completely backed out and theblade easily removed.

In instances wherein the grooves 26 and 21 are preformed, care is takenthat the portion [3 is suitably aligned therewith prior to tighteningthe nut-like member 20. The function from this point is similar to thatstated above.

The handle I, while preferably formed of wood, may be formed of anymaterial having desirable characteristics.

It will be apparent that the construction can be used on other cutleryarticles than knives, such as forks, etc., by using other parts in placeof the blade 2.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that I have provided simple,efilcient and economical means for connecting the parts of an article ofcutlery together whereby they may be easily and quickly connected ordetached, and whereby other or new parts may be easily and quicklysubstituted for old or broken parts.

Having described my invention, I claim:

In a device of the character described the combination of a main blademember detachably connected with a main handle member having a reducedend portion and having a longitudinal bore, said blade having a shankportion comprising two integral sections of a thickness substantiallyequal to the thickness of the blade and of diiferent widths with thewider of said sections being located adjacent the blade member and of awidth less than said blade member and a narrower section having athreaded portion on the end thereof opposite the first section, aslotted ferrule member fitting over said reduced end portion and aconnection member fitting within the longitudinal bore of the handlemember and having a threaded bore adjacent one end thereof threadedlyconnected with the threaded portion of the narrower section of the shankfor drawing said shank portions inwardly v of the longitudinal bore andfor causing the wider section of said shank portion to become embeddedin the material of the adjacent inner walls of the longitudinal bore,said wider shank portion being of a length substantially equal to thewidth of the ferrule with the shank portion being embedded in thematerial of the handle I substantially only throughout the length ofsaid blade out of binding relation with the handle.

wider section.

JOHN A. DICKERMAN.

